Fiber optics have revolutionized communication through out the world. Fiber optics are generally thin strings of glass designed to carry light which can be grouped together.
With the increased use of fiber optics it has become increasingly important to be able to connect and disconnect fiber optic cables from various sources. Two fiber optic cables can be optically coupled so that they are in communication with one another by using well-known SC connectors and an adapter, thereby putting each fiber optic cable in communication with the other. The SC connectors are placed on the end of each cable and then plugged into the adapter. The adapter has two openings, each one designed to receive a connector. The adapter is usually fixed to a dividing member.
The adapter of the prior art consisted of two halves, each halve being identical. Each half consisted generally of a rectangular cylinder having a flange at one end. Inside each half would be placed half of an inner housing. The inner housing being generally a round cylinder, with a flange at one end, and a pair of retaining clips, extending parallel to the cylinder from the flange. Each adapter half had a ridge located just inside from its flange so that the inner housing could be placed in the adapter through the opening proximate to the flange on the adapter half. Once the inner housing were inserted into each adapter half, the two halves were connected by ultrasonically welding the two flanges of the adapter halves together.
This design presented serious problems. The cables naturally flexed in use, while the adapter remained fixed. The related stresses of this situation caused the two halves of the adapter to separate after time. In the prior art, this problem was solved by constructing the adapter halves from metal which gave the adapter enough strength to withstand these stressed. However, this too presented a problem as metal is much more expensive to purchase and mold than the plastic it replaced.
The present invention has significant advantages over the construction of the prior art in that the present invention teaches an adapter that can be constructed out of plastic in a unitary fashion. The main body has an access opening to the interior. The access opening allows the adapter to be molded in a single piece, as with out the access opening negative draft would make it impossible to construct the adapter in a single piece. The access opening further allows an inner housing to be inserted into the main body.